The Light Music Society Magazine
ISSUE 58
WINTER 2012
CONTENTS
New Members
2
Magazine submissions
2
Website information
2
Other societies
2
Chairman’s letter
3
Library News
4
Dates for your diary
5
Diary of the Cambridge weekend 7
British Light Orchestral Music
Some 19th Century Strands
8
Three Centenarians
10
Frederick Delius
12
Opera Corner, West Side Story 14
Twenty Musical Questions
16
Answers to Autumn’s Quizzes
17
Past Concerts & Orchestra News 18
Book Review
20
Points of Interest
21
LMS Offers
21
CD Reviews
22
Obituaries
25
Crossword
27
Editor’s Note
This winter we welcome you to our
new look magazine, introduced in the light of
the results of the very successful readers
survey we carried out earlier in the year. We
are still at the experimental stage and so we
do hope you will bear with us if you find there
is a little less to read in this issue or the
layout is not absolutely perfect. We will keep
the format under constant review and work
on the design by stages until we (and you)
are satisfied.
I hope you will continue to give us
the feedback that we rely on, (complimentary
or otherwise!). If we are not meeting your
needs then we need to rethink. Meanwhile,
we sincerely hope you enjoy this issue and
the wealth of information it contains.
Finally, I would like to wish all
members a very happy Christmas and a very
successful New Year for 2013!
Neil Patrick
Ernest Tomlinson MBE,
outside Buckingham Palace, October 19th 2012,
with daughter and son-in-law, Hilary and Bill Ashton
and grandson Robert Ashton.
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR MEMBERS
www.lightmusicsociety.com
The Light Music Society
Incorporating the Library of Light Orchestral Music
President: Ernest Tomlinson Chairman: Gavin Sutherland
Secretary: Hilary Ashton
Treasurer: Jan Mentha
Committee: Andy Bate, Peter Moody, Neil Patrick, Judith Topper
Membership Enquiries: Jan Mentha, 24 Cheney Way, Cambridge CB4 1UD (lms@mentha.com)
Library & General Enquiries: Hilary Ashton, 19A Eshton Terrace, Clitheroe, Lancs. BB7 1BQ
Phone 077 1920 5264 or 01200 427066 (hilary.ashton@talk21.com)
Library Address: Lancaster Farm, Chipping Lane, Longridge, Preston PR3 2NB
Other Societies
which may be of interest to
LMS members:
A Warm Welcome To Our
THE ROBERT FARNON SOCIETY
Membership Secretary: Albert Killman
33 Bramleys, Rochford,
Essex, SS4 3BD
01702 549635
rfs@my postoffice.co.uk www.rfsoc.org.uk
ERIC COATES SOCIETY
Chairman: Geoff Sheldon
104 Beardall Street
Hucknall, Notts. NG15 7RP
THE JOHANN STRAUSS SOCIETY
OF GREAT BRITAIN
Secretary: Mrs Viola Coates
2 Bishams Court, Caterham, Surrey, CR3 6SE
INTERNATIONAL MILITARY MUSIC SOCIETY
Membership Secretary: Philip Mather,
34 Malvern Avenue, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 6NW
THE CINEMA ORGAN SOCIETY
Membership Secretary: David Shepherd
Dolby House, Barrington Gate, Holbeach,
Spalding, Lincs. PE12 7DA
THE TEST CARD CIRCLE
Frank Mitchell, 175 Kingsknowe Road North,
Edinburgh, EH14 2DY, SCOTLAND
"IN TUNE – INTERNATIONAL"
Editor: : Gerry Stonestreet, Flat 9, Milchester House
12 Staveley Road, Eastbourne,
East Sussex, BN20 7JX
THE MAX STEINER FILM MUSIC SOCIETY
1, Rotherwood Road, Putney,
London, SW15 1LA
BBC TEST CARD CLUB
Editor: Keith Hamer, 7 Epping Close,
Derby, DE22 4HR
PHILLIP DYSON FRIENDS SOCIETY
Membership Secretary: Sue Greenslade
Box 411, Epsom, Surrey KT17 2XA
http://website.lineone.net/~carillon
Claire Yim - Librarian Northern Sinfonia, The Sage, Gateshead
David Windle & Lynne Fox - St Annes, Lancashire
Matthew Hadley - Bury, Lancashire
Corinthian Chamber Orchestra - Oxford
Peter Birkby - Barnsley, S. Yorks
Evan Davies - Eastwood Light Orchestra, Leigh on Sea, Essex
John H. Smith - Long Melford, Suffolk
Sue Dodworth - Uppingham School, Rutland
Neil Streeter - Hampshire
Mike Batt - Dramatico Entertainment
Magazine Submissions
The next issue will be Spring 2013 - to be sent out in March so I
will need your submissions by mid-February please. Do continue
to send articles as email attachments (documents for Word, pictures as jpeg files), or on CD. Otherwise a hard copy by post is
fine, but please note details below for sending your information:
Send to editor.lms@virginmedia.com or to my home address:
8 Tweedys Court, Chipping, Preston, PR3 2QY.
Neil Patrick
LMS Website
www.lightmusicsociety.com
We’re delighted to say that work is in full flow on the design of
our new look website and it should be active early in 2013. The
website address will remain the same.
Although it has not been possible to alter certain sections of our
current website Neil has managed to keep the web diary
relatively up to date so do check information about concerts.
Please continue to email, post or fax your concert/event details to
Neil, and they’ll be added as soon as possible.
Chairman’s Letter
Dear Friends,
And so, winter is upon us! Here in
Oxfordshire we've not suffered much of
the extreme weather conditions felt
elsewhere in the country, but our
thoughts go out to anyone who has
endured anything as a result of such dire
weather. This is the first time we've
"gone big" with a new A4 format for the
magazine, as a result of requests from
many of our members - I do hope it's up
to your expectations in terms of size, but
can heartily assure you that there's no
compromise whatsoever in quality of all
contained within!!
Firstly, continued congratulations to
our "cover star", our President, on his
MBE. In a day and age where our kind of
music is briefly noticed, hastily
overlooked, poorly categorised or simply
forgotten, such an award honouring one
who has done so much to promote Light
Music is long overdue yet thoroughly
deserved.
In the cold of December it's nice to
hark back to the warm glow of memories
of our AGM Weekend in Cambridge. The
Playday was really enjoyable, with lots of
repertoire to explore far beyond the
usual restrictive fare pumped out by the
radio. This warm atmosphere continued
into the evening with our dinner at the
Royal Cambridge Hotel, where fine food
and convivial chat was followed by
entertainment by Shelley Van Loen,
Emma Sheppard, Mark Broadhead and
some pianist or other... This was a real
joy for me, since my work doesn't always
allow me the time to play chamber
music, or indeed just the piano much
these days, so the delight of light music
with fine musicians really heightened my
happiness.
This takes us to the next day, the
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
AGM, and the concert we attended
given by the Cambridge Concert
Orchestra. This also looks back in a
way to what I just said about happiness
- the sight of an orchestra playing music
they wanted to play and enjoying doing
so is something that proves that "music
makes friends make music" and the
large audience showed their
appreciation a great deal. Considerable
thanks must go to Jan and Simon
Mentha for their terrific hosting skills
and warm welcome, not forgetting of
course Hilary, Judith, Bill and everyone
else for their important contributions to
make the AGM a delight.
This issue of the Magazine throws
open a subject in which I've long held
an interest. The stereotypical "golden
age" of British Light Music is one thing,
but where did it all start? I mean, it
wasn't some narrow corridor of years...
Andrew Lamb explores some names
and pieces from the nineteenth century,
and there's also a review of his
biography on one such composer,
William Vincent Wallace.
Although briefly beset by illness,
your indefatigable and inextinguishable
Editor Neil Patrick offers us an article
on Bradford-born English music icon,
Frederic Delius. He mentions the
notorious Ken Russell film Song of
Summer about Delius' life and his
relationship with his amanuensis Eric
Fenby, who was played in the film by
Christopher Gable. Christopher was my
first boss at Northern Ballet Theatre
back in the early ‘90s and oft was the
time he would talk about his work on
films like this. There is a scene of
Delius and Fenby in a rowing boat, and
such was Russell's rather haphazard
way of working they simply drove
around one sunny afternoon until they
happened by chance on a perfect calm
river, lined with nodding trees and the
odd flit of wildlife. "Stop the car!!" cried
Russell, and within half an hour they
were shooting what was to become a
classic bit of film.
Neil also gives us an examination of
that time-honoured classic musical
West Side Story, both in its stage and
film versions. Back in the early ‘90s I
played probably one of my last gigs as
a trombonist with the Newcastle
3
Symphony Orchestra in a concert version
of this piece. The organiser of the concert
was also its conductor, and even then
was pulling in local star players to give
the concert great style. His name, of
course, was John Wilson. Wonder
whatever happened to him...?! (He's also
keeping Light Music alive, as a review of
one of his Northern Sinfonia concerts
describes...)
Also there are obituaries of the late
great Max Bygraves, lyricist Hal David,
underestimated (in current light at least)
conductor George Hurst and, with some
specific LMS-based sadness, tenor Peter
Dempsey. His aim to promote the huge
catalogue of Light Music songs and
ballads was best exemplified in his talent
for singing them, imbuing them with just
the right character to convey the
sonorous melodies and heartfelt lyrics so
beautifully. He will be much missed.
You currently find me up to my neck in
"silly season", with English National
Ballet, doing a huge season of The
Nutcracker (a ballet score which
celebrates its 120th anniversary this year)
followed by another one of The Sleeping
Beauty, two massive doses of all-stopsout Tchaikovsky, and two of the most
gorgeous ballets ever. I also briefly
visited Denmark for a concert with the
Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, to be
confronted by 1.5-metre snowdrifts and
temperatures as low as minus 15 deg.C...
so coming back to positive figures in
temperature was a bonus!! Will we have a
White Christmas, just like the ones we
used to know? Or, like Elvis, will it be a
Blue Christmas, or feature Silver Bells?
Or, to borrow a "party guest" from BBC
Radio's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, will we
be welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Ivy, and their
ecclesiastical son, The Holy Andy Ivy...
...and this is BEFORE the Christmas
cracker jokes come out!!
On behalf of Emma and myself, and
your Committee, and all of the Light
Music Friends across the world, may I
take this opportunity to wish you all a very
Happy Christmas and a Happy and
Prosperous New Year.
Oh, and of course, Happy Festive LightMusic-Making to you all!
Gavin.
4
Library News
Dear Friends,
We are delighted that there has been a big
increase in demand for music from the library. It is a
tremendous encouragement and is keeping us busy
all the time. We even started wondering whether we
will need to increase the library opening hours.
Orders are definitely up on last year. The last
invoice number at this time in 2011 was 166 This
year we are already up to number 180 and many of
the orders have been for a large number of sets.
Cataloguing
Helen and Judith have been working away on the
new detailed selective catalogue. This is added to
every time a new piece goes out from the library and
has full details of each piece. Composer, arranger,
title, publisher, type of piece, instrumentation,
whether saxophone parts are included and if they
are necessary, the number of sets we have, theme,
other additional information (e.g. if the piece is part
of a suite, or has some special requirements), plate
number and performance time. The catalogue
already lists nearly 700 works. We can let you have
a copy of this (by email only, as it is too unwieldy to
print out) if you get in touch. But bear in mind it is
being added every time a new piece goes out.
Eventually it will be available to view on the website.
There have been some more additions to the
library but these were relatively small. Richard
Crozier brought us some boxes of cinema music that
had come from the Odeon cinema in Weston super
Mare sometime in the 1980s, and James Beyer and
Lawrence Dunn made the trip from Edinburgh to
drop off several boxes of music too. There may have
been some others but I’m afraid I’ve lost track. It’s
been such a busy time.
Not much shelving has been done recently,
mainly because Neil has been ill, but in any case it’s
far too cold to work in the barn at this time of year.
We were pleased to have another visit from Chris
Morris who has started cataloguing our boxes of
silent film music. Congratulations are due to Chris
who has just received an MA from Royal Holloway
University of London. His dissertation was called
“Strains of Nostalgia: A Study of British light music
and the Light Music Society.”
Sets for Sale
Several of the sets advertised in the last
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
magazine have been sold. We had hoped to put
another list in this issue but due to Neil’s illness and
Hilary being on hospital visiting duty (her sister has
been in hospital since July) there just hasn’t been
time. Apologies all round and we’ll try to get this
sorted for the next issue.
Post v. Courier!
When returning music to us please use the
ordinary postal service. This autumn, due to
increased postage costs, we decided to try out a
courier service. Our rather negative experiences
have made us go back to Royal Mail. Although the
courier we used was reasonably efficient, the
collection procedure was awkward and the music
couldn’t be guaranteed for the next day. The worst
problem came with music sent back (beautifully
packed and correctly labelled by the librarian), after
John Wilson’s concert at the Sage in September.
The courier involved managed to mix up their own
labelling on two different parcels, even though each
was clearly addressed to someone else. Instead of
our music, an X box was delivered to Lancaster
Farm! We eventually managed to find out that our
music was in Southport. At least that’s still in
Lancashire, but it involved Hilary in an 80 mile round
trip to recover the music as some of it was needed
for sending out almost immediately. Another problem
is that every new driver for any courier services gets
lost. The postcode for Lancaster Farm covers over a
mile of dwellings (several at the end of long farm
roads) as well as two pubs and a hotel. So
sometimes parcels don’t get to us and we have to
retrieve them from a depot quite a long way from
here. At least the postal workers know where we are
- and the post office in Longridge must be one of the
best in the country. So for now we are sticking with
the post!
Finally, we would like to thank you all for your
continued support of the library and the LMS
generally. It is a pleasure to be involved with all the
people who use our service, and we are very
grateful for some very generous donations towards
the work of the library. May we wish all LMS
members a very pleasant Christmas and a happy,
peaceful and prosperous 2013.
Must dash - large order just come in for music for
a party at Buckingham Palace!
Hilary, Judith, Helen and Neil
5
Dates for Your Diary
Tuesday 1st January at 2.30
pm at Symphony Hall,
Birmingham
One Night in Vienna
The Johann Strauss
Programme includes a selection of
The GM Orchestra led by Ray McVay
popular songs, operatic arias and hymns. present a nostalgic tribute to the iconic Orchestra conducted by
Phone 0121 780 4949
1940s band. Programme includes a
Rainer Hersch
Tuesday 18th December at 7.30
pm at Symphony Hall,
Birmingham
Katherine Jenkins – An Evening of
Christmas Classics
Tuesday 18th December at 7.30
pm at Royal Concert Hall,
Nottingham
The Halle Christmas Concert
conducted by Roderick Dunk
Programme includes music by Delius,
Handel, Tchaikovsky, Adam, Ireland and
John Williams
Phone 0115 989 5555
Wednesday 19th December 7.30
pm at the Royal Naval College
Chapel, Greenwich, London—
Christmas at Greenwich—BBC
Concert Orchestra and Singers
conducted by David Hill
Saturday 29th December at 7.30
pm at Symphony Hall,
Birmingham
The Glenn Miller Orchestra – In
The Christmas Mood
variety of well known and well loved
GM favourites with a Christmas
flavour. Phone 0121 780 4949
Tuesday 1st January at 3 pm
and at 7 pm at The Sage,
Gateshead
New Year Viennese Gala
The Northern Symphonia conducted
by Bradley Creswick play a stunning
array of waltzes, polkas and marches
by Johann Strauss.
Phone 0191 443 4661
London Gala Orchestra Tour—
New Year Spectacular 2013
London Gala Orchestra
David McCullum conductor
Programe includes music by John
Pamela Hay soprano
Tavener, Bax, Ireland, Finzi, Howells,
Adam MacKenzie Wicks tenor
Bridge, Warlock and Vaughan Williams.
Tickets £25 and £22.50 (restricted view). (not 4th Jan)
20% reduction for groups of 10 or more. 1st Jan, the Forum, Bath at 3pm
All seats unreserved. B
(Tickets from £12.50 to £27 4 for 3
arbican Box Office for group discounts:
on £27)
020 7382 7211. This concert will be
01225 463362/02085568294
broadcast on Radio 3 so the audience is
2nd Jan, Town Hall Cheltenham
asked to be seated by 7.25 pm
(Tickets from £12 to £27 4 for 3 on
Friday 21st December at 7.30 pm at £27)
The Sage, Gateshead
08445762210
Katherine Jenkins – An Evening of 3rd Jan, Ark Theatre
Christmas Classics
Borehamwood (Tickets £16 020
Programme includes a selection of
8238 7265)
popular songs, operatic arias and hymns. 4th Jan, Corn Exchange Bedford
Phone 0191 443 4661
(Tickets from £14 to £27 4 for 3 on
£27) 01234 3444813
th
Thursday 27 December at 7.30
5th Jan at the City Hall Salisbury
pm at Symphony Hall,
(Tickets from £12 to £27 4 for 3
Birmingham—Last Night of the
on £27), 01722 434434
Christmas Proms
7th Jan Civic Theatre Darlington
London Concert Orchestra
(Tickets £17 & £19) 01325 486555
conducted by Jae Alexander
All programmes will include works
All your favourites including music by
Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Elgar and Handel. by the Strauss family, Zeller,
Phone 0121 780 4949
Lanner, von Suppe, etc.
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
The Johann Strauss
Dancers in Costume
Programme includes music by
Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Lehar
Phone 0121 780 4949
Friday 4th January at 7.45 pm
at The Waterfront, Belfast
Viennese New Year
The Ulster Orchestra
conductor Christopher Bell
Waltzes, polkas and galops galore!
Phone 028 9033 4400
Friday 4th January at 8 pm
Victoria Hall, Hanley
Saturday 5th January at 3 pm
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Sunday 6th January at 3 pm
St George’s Hall, Bradford
New Year In Vienna
The Halle Orchestra
conducted by David Parry
Programme includes music by
Lehar, Strauss, Offenbach, etc.
Tickets: 01782 206 000
Sunday 6th January at 2.30pm
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
HMS Pinafore
A semi-staged concert performance
of the irrepressible G&S operetta.
Phone 0121 780 4949
6
Sunday 27th January at 3 pm at
The Platform, Morecambe
The Promenade Concert
Orchestra conducted by Howard
Rogerson—A New Year Viennese
Concert
Another dazzling programme of waltzes,
marches and polkas from the Strauss
family and associated composers so “pop
out the champagne” and celebrate the
coming of another year.
Book early to avoid disappointment!
Tickets: 01524 582803
www.tbhso.co.uk/tea
Music will be in the form of a piano
quintet performing everything
quintessentially English and from the
palm court etc. Sittings at 2pm and
3:30pm Tickets £16.50 per person to
include home made finger sandwiches,
cakes, pastries, with a selection of teas
and coffee…
Penistone Cinema Organ Trust.
January and February concerts at St
Andrews Church, Penistone featuring the
Allen Digital Theatre Organ. The
remainder are at The Penistone
Friday 1st February at 7.30 pm at
Paramount Cinema and feature the 1937
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Compton Cinema Organ.
A Celebration of Lerner and
All concerts 2.30 pm Saturdays.
Jan 12th Alastair Kiernan, Feb 9th
Loewe
Richard Hills, March 9th Byron Jones,
The CBSO conducted by John
Aprill 13th Kevin Grunill, May 11th Phil
Wilson
A luxurious full orchestra, a team of West Kelsall, June 8th Donald
MacKenzie, July13th To Be Confirmed,
End singers and the CBSO Chorus
celebrate the writers of such musicals as August 10th Kevin Grunill and The Take
My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot.. Phone Two Big Band, September 21st Howard
Beaumont, October 12th Robert Wolfe,
0121 780 4949
November 9th Nigel Ogden, December
Saturday 23rd February at 7.45 pm 14th ' A Compton Christmas Cracker' with
Kevin Grunill and Andrew Nix. All tickets
at the Belfast Waterfront
bookable in advance to a seating plan
Film Night: The Wild, Wild West
and group bookings are welcomed.
The Ulster Orchestra conducted
We also hold light music concerts every
by Carl Davis
Thursday at St Andrews Church,
Featuring music from classic westerns
Penistone at 1pm featuring Kevin Grunill
such as High Noon, Shane, The Big
or occasional guest organist on the Allen
Country and The Magnificent Seven.
Digital Theatre Organ. Contact details PO
Phone 028 9033 4400
Box 557, Barnsley, S70 9DE.
Tel 07944 566972
Friday 8th & Saturday 9th March
7.30 pm, Royal Albert Hall
Singin’ in the Rain – Live in
Concert
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the
film, the Royal Philharmonic Concert
Orchestra under Neil Thompson will
accompany a live screening of the
remastered film with vocals and dialogue
intact.
Phone 0845 401 5034
The Tom Bott High Society
Orchestra presents a new season of
afternoon tea with live music from the
High Society Orchestra at the Assembly
Room, Marlborough Town Hall, Wiltshire.
Starting on Sunday 3rd February 2013
they run on the first Sunday of every
month up to and including May. Details
are on our web page:
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
Courses
Wind Serenades 2013
January - November 2013:
“From mountain peaks to sky...”
A joint Wind Serenades / Cuillin Sound
project offering advanced amateur wind
players these fantastic opportunities:
Work alongside a professional player in an
ensemble; rehearse to a professional
standard; make a commercial CD with your
ensemble; perform with your ensemble in a
major London concert venue. PDFs with full
details at www.cuillinsoundmusic.co.uk
2013 chamber music and instrumental
courses
Full details (or website links) at
www.windserenades.co.uk
25-28 March: Alston Hall, Preston
Well-established mid-week string and wind
chamber course in rural central Lancashire.
8-12 April: Raasay bassoon/bass clarinet
course
For bass clarinettists and bassoonists of all
levels - an amazing 5-day course in a truly
fantastic location!
3-10 August: Malvern Winds chamber
music course
Now in its third year, and fast becoming one
of the UK’s most popular wind chamber
courses - a superb event in a lovely setting.
24-31 August: Cubertou, France
A well-established wind chamber course in a
magical location - a very special experience.
1-7 September: Cubertou for elementary
players (south of France)
This is a brand new course especially for
adult amateur players of elementary standard
- a wonderful chance to discover the joys of
ensemble playing in a beautiful location.
26-27 October: The Birnam Experience!
(Perthshire, Scotland)
The classic Wind Serenades course, a
hugely popular event.
Benslow Music Trust
Come Dance at Benslow
Friday 1st March to Sunday 3rd March.
Residents £240 . Non-residents £195
Benslow Dance Band - same dates and same prices.
Benslow Light Orchestra with Keith
Stent and Margaret Whittall
Friday 26th - Sunday 28th April.
Benslow Palm Court Orchestra
with Roger Moon and Miriam Kramer Friday 28th - Sunday 30th June
Contact the Benslow Music Trust on
01462 459446 or email
info@benslowmusic.org
Summer MusicFest 2013
July 28th - August 4th
Enjoy a week of playing exciting light
music in the beautiful setting of the
medieval village of Dunster, Somerset.
Accommodation is in the historic Yarn
Market Hotel. Charges are fully
inclusive of full board and all
professional music direction. There are
places available for all instruments and
we would especially welcome string
players. Afternoons are free to explore
the delights of Exmoor and
neighbouring towns and villages.
This week is also available on a nonresidential basis and the hotel is also
offering a 50% reduction for under 25
year old players.
www.phoenixartsgroup.co.uk
01565 733230
AGM and Cambridge Weekend
7
– a diary by Judith Topper, assistant LMS librarian (and clarinettist)
Friday 21st September
8.30: Left home in the sodden northwest to drive 240 miles to Cambridge. Heavy rain so lots of spray on M6.
13.15: Met college friend for lunch, natter and dinner.
20.00: Dropped in to Simon and Jan Mentha's to meet up with some fellow LMS members, having battled
with vast amounts of traffic lights, bus lanes and cycle lanes at every turn – unheard of in my area of the
rural north!
22.30: Back to hotel for good night's sleep.
Saturday 22nd September
8.30: Glorious weather! Fortified by one of the best cooked breakfasts I've ever had in a hotel, I abandoned
the car and walked to the Stephen Perce Foundation to help set up for the Play Day. Wow! - The
independent school that I worked in was nothing like this!
9.30: Chairs set out. Music pads distributed. Gavin in baton-wielding mode got us all in the mood with the
theme from Dr. Finlay's Casebook, the March from the Little Suite by Trevor Duncan. As the morning
progressed we began to gell as an ensemble, ably assisted by section leaders Shelley Van Loen (Leader)
Emma Sheppard (Principal Viola) and Mark Broadhead (Principal Cellist)
12.15: A wonderful buffet lunch was supplied. We feasted on an excellent range of food with plenty of choice
for carnivores, veggies and gluten-free requirements.
13.30: We were all back in our seats and ready for more action. During the course of the day we worked on
the following pieces: Jeune Fille by Gilbert Vinter, High Heels by Trevor Duncan, A Quiet Stroll by Charles
Williams, Scrub, Brother, Scrub by Ken Warner, My Fair Lady Selection by Frederick Loewe, How Beautiful is
Night by Robert Farnon, The Boulevardier by Fredric Curzon, Summer Days' Suite by Eric Coates, and The
2nd Suite of English Folk Dances by Ernest Tomlinson.
16.00: We entertained a small group of friends and family with an informal performance of a selection of the
pieces we had rehearsed. We then went back to our respective homes and hotels to recover from 6 hours of
sight-reading and to get ready for a relaxing evening and the annual dinner at the Royal Cambridge Hotel.
19.00: Everyone began to gather for pre-dinner drinks followed by a leisurely meal in good company with likeminded companions. Lovely to meet up with friends old and new.
21.45: 45 minutes of excellent Palm Court music played by Gavin, Emma, Mark and Shelley, was a perfect
end to the day. Jan Mentha named them “GEMS” and they certainly were!
Sunday 23rd September
11.00: Committee meeting
12.00: AGM. Gavin welcomed everyone to the meeting and we were treated to a film of Ernest Tomlinson
MBE talking to Gavin about his life and experiences as a musician, arranger and composer. The formal part
of the meeting then followed and was concluded at 13.10 to be followed by another excellent lunch.
15.00: The weekend was rounded off by a concert by Cambridge Concert Orchestra in aid of the Winter
Comfort charity. A representative of the charity gave a short talk about its work (more info on their website
www.wintercomfort.org.uk). We were then treated to a light classical concert featuring music by living
composers and arrangers. Introductions and explanations to their pieces were given by Matthew Curtis and
Peter Bumstead who were in the audience to hear performances of their Holiday Mood and Smoke-Screen
respectively and by Stewart Green to hear his arrangements of Last of the Summer Wine and Utopia Limited
and Ernest's Kettle Drum from his 2nd Suite of English Folk Dances was also included in the programme.
Wintercomfort supplied wonderful cake for sale in the interval. The whole afternoon was ably compèred by
our own Jan Mentha.
The display of LMS memorabilia and the sale of CDs and early copies of the LMS magazine added to the
occasion and a good time was had by all.
17.50: After a swift tidy up we left to wend our weary (for some of us!) ways home.
A great weekend - well done, and thanks to all who helped make it so worthwhile.
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British Light Orchestral Music :
Some Nineteenth Century Strands by Andrew Lamb
Readers will perhaps accept that British light music was primarily a twentieth-century
phenomenon. However, it was only researching a couple of projects recently that brought home to me just
how much this was the case. I was struck anew by the extent to which music from the European continent
dominated popular orchestral and military band concerts in Britain during the Victorian era – overtures by
Auber and Suppè, waltzes by Strauss, Labitzky, Waldteufel and so on. It made me look in greater detail at
pieces of nineteenth-century music that might be deemed to have initiated a British light music tradition.
What I was seeking was not an in-depth repertory but specific nineteenth-century pieces of light
orchestral music that enjoyed popularity for a fair period of time, even if today no longer recognised as part of
the repertory. Excluded from my search were overtures to theatrical works such as once-popular operas of
Michael William Balfe or William Vincent Wallace, or the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. I wanted
works specifically conceived for instrumental forces.
Let it be acknowledged from the start that there were indeed British waltzes and polkas in abundance – by Charles D’Albert (1809-86), Charles Coote father (c1808-80) and son (1831-1916), the multiple
Godfreys, Charles Handel Rand Marriott (1831-89) and so on. By comparison with continental counterparts,
their appeal and currency were somewhat transient, though three works by D’Albert with a Turkish flavour
can be found on a curious CD entitled ‘Invitation to the Seraglio’ (Warner Classics 2564 61472-2). This collection also includes works by others of continental origin long based in Britain – Hermann Koenig (c181818??) and Luigi Arditi (1822-1903). We might note in passing that Arditi’s famous waltz song Il Bacio (1860)
was composed in Britain (and first performed in Brighton), as also his later Parla! (1878), though their Italian
texts precludes me claiming these as British light music.
It was certainly the case, though, that in Victorian times not just the music but also the musicians
tended to come from the continent. Much the earliest piece of light orchestral music of British origin that may
reasonably be considered current today was indeed composed by a German – the aforementioned Hermann
Koenig. True his Post Horn Galop may now be recognised as a military band piece, having survived notably
as the signal for the end of dancing at a hunt ball or wedding reception. However, it was composed for orchestra, being heard first as a showpiece for Koenig himself at Louis Jullien’s winter season of promenade
concerts at Covent Garden Theatre in November 1844.
A later German immigrant who settled permanently in Britain was Wilhelm Meyer Lutz (1828/91903). Younger brother of Johann Lutz, prime minister of Bavaria under King Ludwig II, he married into a
distinguished British musical dynasty – the singing Cook family, through whom he was also related to the
Goossens dynasty. Lutz became musical director at London’s Gaiety Theatre, for
which he put together many scores. These included Faust Up to Date (1888),
which included a Pas de quatre that became firmly embedded in British consciousness after being used as music for the Barn Dance. Lutz’s Pas de quatre has
happily found its way into modern compilations of British light music.
Another immigrant who might be included here was ’cellist Auguste van
Biene (1849-1913). He composed The Broken Melody for a play of the same title
(1892) and went on playing it until he tired of it, eventually dying on stage in Brighton. Though The Broken Melody thus found its way into British folklore, it has
seemingly not survived into circulation to the present day.
At least Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) was British born and bred, and he
undoubtedly composed orchestral music that falls into the light music category.
Allan Macbeth
The lilting Overture di ballo is an obvious example, having been composed for the
1870 Birmingham Triennial Festival. It has retained popularity ever since, whereas other Sullivan pieces
have really become known today only through the revival of interest in Sullivan’s orchestral music during the
LP and CD eras. One might cite particularly his incidental music for theatrical productions such as The Merchant of Venice (Prince’s Theatre, Manchester, 1871) – most particularly the lively ‘Bourrée’ and ‘À la valse’ –
and Henry VIII (Theatre Royal, Manchester, 1877), with its charming ‘Graceful Dance’.
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A composer who, by contrast with Sullivan, is largely forgotten today is Greenock-born Allan Macbeth (1856-1910), sometime Principal of the Glasgow College of Music. He composed a piece for strings
that enjoyed popularity for some decades, namely the intermezzo Forget Me Not, Op 22 (1883). It’s astonishing that no recording of the piece seems to be available today. In similar vein might be classed another
light piece, the ‘idylle’ Dawn (1895), by Ipswich-born Albert Edward Matt (1864-1941), orchestral trombonist
and professor of trombone at various music colleges. Dawn at least survived to be used as mood music in
the silent-film era. Matt was also composer of the grand march Fame and Glory (1904), played annually at
the Cenotaph every Remembrance Sunday, and he is another British light-music
composer who deserves greater attention.
In the military march field the nineteenth-century compositions that have
come down to us also seem predominantly of continental or (to take the obvious
case of Sousa) American origin. To be sure there were British marches of the 1890s
that remain familiar within the military band world, such as the Punjaub march
(1893), composed by Charles Payne, and the quick-march The Bond of Friendship
(1896) composed by John Mackenzie Rogan (1855-1931). However, their appeal is
perhaps more rhythmic than melodic, so that they fit less readily into the light orchestral repertory. A more obvious candidate is Sons of the Brave (1899), composed at
the start of the Boer War by Thomas Bidgood (1858-1925), and a precursor of many
fine British marches of the twentieth century.
One composer who produced particularly fine light music during the nineA. E. Matt
teenth century was, of course, Edward Elgar (1857-1934). Of several examples
there is perhaps most obviously his Salut d’amour, op 12 (1888), performed at the Crystal Palace in November 1889. There is also his Chanson de matin, op 15 no 2, also composed around 1889 but published only in
1899 and arranged for orchestra only in 1901. Nor should one omit mention of his Bavarian Dance, op 27 no
2, from 1897, or his Sérénade lyrique from 1899. Though the enduring popularity of these works is due
above all to their composer’s eminence, their position in a British light music repertory cannot be denied.
One nineteenth-century work that hasn’t had quite the long-lasting currency its date of composition might suggest is La Calinda from the Florida Suite of Frederick Delius (1862-1934). Delius was himself,
of course, the son of German immigrants. His suite dates from 1887/88, but conductor August Manns rejected it for performance at the Crystal Palace in 1890, and it remained unperformed in Britain until after
Delius’s death, from which time the popularity of La Calinda stems.
The successor to Arthur Sullivan’s position as composer of both comic operas and incidental
music was Edward German (1862-1936), and it was in the latter capacity that he first achieved note in orchestral circles. In 1892 German’s music for Henry Irving’s Lyceum Theatre production of Henry VIII produced the first of his sets of old English dances, which have remained part of the light music repertory to the
present day. That same year German also produced the Gipsy Suite, introduced at the Crystal Palace and
from which the ‘Menuetto’ has remained in circulation. Other attractive numbers come from other incidental
music of the 1890s, including the attractive ‘Berceuse’ for Henry Arthur Jones’s The Tempter (1893) and later
the set of ‘Nell Gwyn’ dances for the play English Nell (1900).
Linked with German’s orchestral suites must be those of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912).
Of these his early Four Characteristic Waltzes (1898), including the celebrated ‘Valse de la Reine’, neatly
meets the search-criteria. Like Edward German, too, Coleridge-Taylor composed a Gipsy Suite (1897).
However, this was again conceived for violin and piano, and was orchestrated only by another hand after
Coleridge-Taylor’s cruelly early death.
Going out somewhat on a limb, a further number worthy of consideration here is the Andantino in
Db, op 83 no 2 (1892), of organist Edwin H. Lemare (1865-1934). Yes, it is primarily an organ piece. However, long before New York’s Tin Pan Alley added words and turned it into the song ‘Moonlight and Roses’,
Novello & Co published an arrangement for small orchestra by one G. von Holst – better known to us today
as Gustav Holst. Orchestral parts are in the British Library, and it is another surprise that this arrangement
seems never to have been committed to CD – as much for Holst’s involvement as anything else.
Greenock in the nineteenth century was evidently a breeding ground for composers. Besides the
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aforementioned Allan Macbeth, another born there was William Wallace (1860-1940) – not to be confused
with William Vincent Wallace (1812-65) mentioned earlier – though he would not rank as a light-music composer. One who would is Hamish McCunn (1868-1916), composer of the overture The Land of the Mountain
and the Flood, op 8. This was first performed at the Crystal Palace in 1887 and provides another instance of
nineteenth-century British light-orchestral music whose currency has not been continuous. It became familiar
in modern times after inclusion by Alexander Gibson and the Scottish National Orchestra in EMI’s 1968 LP
collection ‘Music of the Four Countries’. Wider popularity then came through the time-honoured route of use
as a television theme – in this case for the BBC television series ‘Sutherland’s
Law’ between 1973 and 1976.
One final strand may be something of a surprise. It was in 1900 – the
very last year of the nineteenth century – that Leeds dancing-teacher and pianist
Arthur Morris (1858-1938) created the round-dance The Veleta. This became a
popular feature of British ballrooms and enjoyed renewed familiarity in the postWorld War 2 revival of Old Time Dancing. That it has survived to the present day
not just nationally but internationally is evidenced by inclusion in a medley performed in 2007 by André Rieu and his orchestra that can be found on YouTube.
Well, there it is. It’s a motley collection, to be sure. It encompasses
surprisingly few items, though readers may well be able to suggest other compositions that ought to be mentioned. What is striking about this paucity of Victorian
examples is the way British light music so soon blossomed in the early years of
Ernest Bucalossi
the twentieth century. Those continental composers of the Victorian era – Suppè,
Strauss, Waldteufel – had by then reached the end of their careers, of course, and during the ‘Gay Nineties’
Victorian reticence gave way to a more upfront Edwardian society. This was reflected not only in the music
hall and musical theatre but in light orchestral music, exemplified by one of the works already cited, namely
Elgar’s Sérénade lyrique, which was composed for Ivan Caryll’s Orchestra, established by the publisher
Chappell & Co to promote light orchestral compositions.
Thereafter we may readily cite early examples of the British light music repertory as it has become
accepted, for instance as Down South (1901) by W. H. Myddleton (1857-1917), The Grasshopper’s Dance
(1905) by Ernest Bucalossi (1863-1933), Songe d’Automne (1908) and Remembrance (1909) by Archibald
Joyce (1873-1963), and Valse Septembre (1909) by Felix Godin (1864-1926) – their enduring popularity
helped not least by the infant gramophone record. The golden age of British light music of Albert W. Ketèlbey, Percy Fletcher, Charles Ancliffe, Eric Coates, Haydn Wood and the rest soon followed, their success
perhaps partly responsible for obscuring earlier pieces from the Victorian era.
Three Centenarians by Philip Scowcroft
Joseph Cooper (1912-2001) who, in his younger days,
was primarily a concert pianist brought out a number of LP recordings. Later he became better known as the urbane host of the
TV programme Face the Music which became popular. Cooper’s
abilities as a composer/arranger found the perfect niche in Face the
Music with his “hidden melodies” in which the melody was, in addition to being hidden, played in the manner of a particular major
composer. Before that, just prior to the Second World War, he was
a composer for the Post Office Film Unit.
George Grossmith, Snr. (1847-1912) achieved fame as the legendary creator of the patter song
roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas from The Sorcerer to The Yeomen of the Guard inclusive and
as joint author with his brother, Weedon of The Diary of a Nobody. But there was more to him than that.
Indeed, he did not confine his activities to the theatre. He became greatly in demand for drawing-room entertainments which made his fortune and for which he composed many songs, perhaps as many as 600, some
hundred sketches and even piano solos. Sketch titles included How I Discovered America, Is Music a Fail-
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ure? and What is the World a-Coming To? Songs included An Awful Little
Scrub, The Muddle-Puddle Porter, My Nancy Loves Me Truly, The Speaker’s
Eye, The Very Much Up-to-Date Mama, The Lady on the Shore, I am so Volatile
and much the best known of all See Me Dance the Polka, arranged many times
for different musical forces and famously parodied in Walton’s Facade.
Grossmith’s compositions for the stage (incidentally his similarly
named son (1874-1935) found work as actor, librettist and director) numbered
about eighteen, mainly one-acters, none of them long-lived in their runs. Their
titles included Haste to the Wedding (1892), Cups and Saucers, a Savoy forepiece (1878), Mr. Griffin’s Elopement (1882), produced in the provinces before
being transferred to the capital, A Peculiar Case (1884), for the German Reed
entertainments, Chirrupers Fortune (1885), Uncle Samuel (1881), contribution to
His Excellency (1884) and, probably his last one-acter, Castle Bang or Where’s
the Heiress? (1902). Grossmith dabbled in production and as musical director and all told he was a notable
musical all-rounder.
Samuel Coleridge Taylor (1875-1912), the son of an English mother and a West African Negro
physician, is a figure who, apart from his ethnic origins, looks in more than one direction. One thinks, for
example of his orchestral rhapsody The Bamboula, based on a negro melody, subtly varied and colourfully
scored; he also set negro spirituals for choirs. Generally though, his music was in the English tradition. But
was this serious or light? His “serious” output included a Symphony, a Ballade in A minor premiered at the
Three Choirs, a Violin Concerto, a Violin sonata and other chamber music, mostly from student days but
worth hearing (a Nonet, a Clarinet Quintet and a String Quartet) and
cantatas, all quite popular in their day: Meg Blane, Kubla Khan, A
Tale of Old Japan and most notably, the Hiawatha trilogy (though
the evocative tenor air, “Onaway, Awake My Beloved” from Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, is almost a drawing-room ballad). But there
was plenty of light music which I will summarise in a moment.
There was a great shortage of money in the Coleridge Taylor family,
not least after Samuel married fellow student Jessie Walmsley in
1899 and sired a son and a daughter. Overwork, on noncompositional activities like conducting, teaching and adjudicating,
affected his health and he died of pneumonia in 1912. However, he
suffered less than we might think from colour prejudice; Stanford,
his teacher at the RCM, and Elgar, to name but two, encouraged
him.
Coleridge Taylor was an exponent of the light concert suite before
Eric Coates and Haydn Wood made this their own. Most celebrated,
and still popular, Petite Suite de Concert just pre-dated Eric Coates’
Miniature Suite and also appeared (and can be heard) in a piano
version. Other suites included Four Characteristic Waltzes (1898),
flexible and varied despite the basic ¾ metre, Scenes from an Everyday Romance and St. Agnes Eve. Some light instrumental music
he did not get round to orchestrating, though Henry Geehl did the
honours for Cameos and Norman O’Neill for the six waltzes, Three Fours. Other piano publications were
Moorish Tone Pictures (1897) and Moorish Dance (1904) which predate Ketèlbey’s exotica, Two Oriental
Waltzes, Forest Scenes, Papillons and Scenes de Ballet. The violin was his own first instrument; for it he
wrote, besides the concerto and the sonata, Two Romantic Pieces, a Romance in G, a Ballet in D minor,
Valse Caprice and a Gypsy Suite. His works were even designed for the organ loft.
Coleridge Taylor died when scarcely older than Mozart but his musical activity was immense. His
work survived for generations and may still be encountered. Perhaps though he, like Sullivan before him,
might not be best pleased that it was lighter music which kept (and still keeps) his memory alive.
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Frederick Delius by Neil Patrick
2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Delius, an event widely commemorated
by special events up and down the country including an international composition prize awarded by the Delius Society, exhibitions at both the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, festivals in Manchester and Bradford,
seven Prom concerts featuring his works (including the Last Night), a performance of A Mass of Life as the
opening concert of the Edinburgh Festival last August and the issue on DVD of the BBC documentary made
by Ken Russell in 1968 called Song of Summer which shocked many viewers
at the time. It depicted the blind and paralysed Delius as an irascible, intolerant egoist taking cruel advantage of both his devoted wife and his amanuensis, the young and vulnerable Eric Fenby.
Delius is not the only composer whose personal flaws stand in
contrast to the remarkable music he or she produced. To listen to the music of
Wagner one has to set to one side his obsessive anti-Semitism. It is hard to
forgive Beethoven for the way he treated his nephew provoking the boy to
attempt suicide. Britten was attracted to young boys. Offenbach was a serial
philanderer. In cases such as these , the man is best separated from his music.
Delius: the Man
Fritz Albert Theodor Delius was born on 29th January 1862 in Bradford. His parents were German merchant immigrants attracted to this country
by the wool trade. Delius’ father tried hard to get Fritz involved in the business
with no success. At the age of 22 he was packed off to Florida to establish his father’s smallholding there as
an orange grove but instead he spent much of his time listening to the singing of the neighbourhood slaves,
firm in his determination to become a composer. He met up with Thomas Ward, an organist from Brooklyn
visiting the South for his health who, according to Delius, taught him all he needed to know to achieve his
goal. Having some evidence that the young Fritz was capable of work, his exasperated father eventually
agreed to him undertaking 18 months study at the Leipzig Conservatoire. There the young man met Greig,
with whom he was to remain close friends. According to Delius, he gained little or nothing from Leipzig during
his stay in 1886-7 (although his note books show he was a diligent student).
Seeking to keep a fair distance between himself and his family, Delius moved to Paris. Here he
renewed his contacts made during his stay in Germany. It is widely believed that at this stage of his life Delius caught the syphilitic infection that was to dog his last days and lead to his death. Thomas Beecham put
the situation rather touchingly thus:
“...he had suffered a heavy blow in the defection of his favourite goddess Aphrodite Pandemos
who had returned his devotions with an affliction which, although temporarily alleviated, was to
break out again incurably some twenty five years later.”
Delius included Greig and his wife Nina, Sinding, Halvorsen, Gauguin, Strindberg and Munch in
his close circle. He also met Jelka Rosen, a highly educated and multi-lingual artist and poet much admired
by Rodin. Jelka left Paris with fellow artist Ida Gerhardi to live and paint together in Jelka’s house in the
peaceful village of Grez-sur-Loing, about 40 miles south of Paris.
Delius’ father stipulated that Fritz was to return to Florida once his studies in Germany were complete and the trip became more pressing owing to a worrying decline in the fortunes of the wool business.
And so in 1896, ten years since his last visit, he again set sail for the US. We now know that during his first
stay in Florida he had developed a relationship with a Negro girl who had bore him a child. On this second
visit Delius attempted to seek out the girl but it is believed she fled, fearing he intended to take her child away
with him. He never found the girl or his child and some have speculated that she came to represent for him
the love of his life, the loss of which can be heard in his music. His Florida business completed, Delius returned to Paris, inviting himself down to Grez and eventually moving in with Jelka and Ida. They would paint
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and he would compose in a separate part of the house. Eventually Ida left and Delius and Jelka married in
1903. She gave up her career, choosing to spend the rest of her life caring for Delius. He never actually
came to own the house (although successive biographies refer to it as “his” house) which was bought by the
composer Balfour Gardiner just after World War One when it was about to be sold by a penniless Jelka on
the open market. Gardiner generously allowed the couple to remain in the house until the end of their days.
Delius’ main recreation away from his music was to take long walking holidays in and around the
Norwegian mountains, often staying with Grieg and his wife. Delius had two preoccupations he incidentally
shared with Charles Dickens (to whom Jelka was related): a love of long walks and visits to the local morgue
to view the bodies! He changed his name to Frederick in light of the widespread anti-German feeling in
France and his musical fortunes were disappointing. He had to wait years before many of his works were
accepted and appreciated. Help arrived in 1897 when Hans Haym, the Musical Director in Elberfeld near
Wuppertal, took an interest. Haym had been introduced to Delius by Ida Gerhardi
and for a while his music gained popularity in Germany. The real breakthrough
came some years later when Thomas Beecham discovered his music and declared himself “startled and electrified.” Without delay Beecham made his way
down to Grez, the start of a long lasting and fruitful collaboration.
Frederick and Jelka were forced to leave Grez in the face of the threat
of the First World War when they moved temporarily to England. In 1925, back in
France, Delius suffered a severe deterioration in his health leading to paralysis
and blindness. By a stroke of good fortune a young organist, Eric Fenby, heard of
Delius’ plight and offered to live with him for a couple of years to help him complete his unfinished works. Between 1928 and 1933 Fenby acted as Delius’
amanuensis, enjoying a growing friendship and a deep empathy with his music.
Delius died the following year and was temporarily interred in Grez as Jelka herself had become seriously ill
with cancer and hadn’t the strength to carry out his last his wishes. The atheist composer who avoided England for most of his life longed for his remains to rest in an English churchyard. Fenby stepped in to make the
arrangements and a little later, her life’s work completed, Jelka succumbed to her illness and was buried next
to her husband in St. Peter’s Church, Limpsfield in Surrey.
Delius: his Music
Delius’ main musical influences were Wagner, his friend Grieg, Chopin and Bach, probably in that
order. He hated the music and romantic conventions of the nineteenth century, scorning the music of Beethoven and Brahms in particular, and ridiculed the idea that any English composer was capable of producing any
music of worth. It was Wagner to whom he looked for inspiration whilst trying to create his own musical language. Wagner aspired to free opera from the unreal “periodic” conventions under which music and words
are traditionally delivered as a packaged sequence of “numbers” or set pieces such as arias, recitative, choruses, duets, quartets, etc. (as well as interruptions such as applause and encores). He sought to replace
them with continuous melody and movement. His term “Music Drama” best describes this synthesis of the
arts of singing and acting, an approach of great appeal to Delius.
Delius’ works can be split into three categories. Firstly, his six operas of which A Village Romeo
and Juliet is considered the finest, which includes the well known intermezzo The Walk to the Paradise Garden. Secondly, orchestral, choral and chamber works in conventional genres: a piano concerto, a violin concerto, a double concerto, three violin sonatas, a secular requiem, a mass, etc. Thirdly, a string of descriptive
pieces for which he is best known, relatively short but non-programmatic often with idyllic titles, such as In A
Summer Garden, Summer Night on the River, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, North Country
Sketches, A Song Before Sunrise, A Song of Summer, etc.
Since his death many have tried to categorise and so pin down these short works. They have
variously been called “expressionist” or “rhapsodic” or “impressionist” and unjustly criticised for being formless and meandering. But it is for these light pieces that he is remembered. His output is best understood as
a bridge between the Romantics of the late 19th Century and the Modernists who followed. He certainly created a most individual musical language and he is now generally seen as one of England’s finest musical
voices. 150 years after he was born, Delius’s music still has the power to captivate, to charm and intrigue.
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Opera Corner
Neil Patrick explores an iconic musical of the 1950s
West Side Story
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
In the early hours of 13th November 1943 Leonard Bernstein received an unexpected phone call
from Bruno Zirato, the joint manager of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Zirato abruptly informed the
25 year old Bernstein that he was going to make his conducting debut with the orchestra that very afternoon
at its Carnegie Hall concert owing to the indisposition of the scheduled conductor, Bruno Walter. Bernstein
had only recently been appointed as deputy to chief conductor Artur Rodzinski and without warning he now
faced the chance of a lifetime. As it turned out, Bernstein did more than seize the opportunity. At the end of
the afternoon he received a sensational reception and became a star overnight.
Born in 1918, Bernstein first came to the attention of composer Aaron Copland on account of his
prowess as a pianist whilst studying at Harvard. Through him he went on to meet composers William Schuman and Virgil Thompson and conductors Dmitri Mitropoulos and the legendary Serge Koussevitzky. After
graduating, Bernstein moved to New York where he was introduced to Adolph Green who, along with Betty
Comden and Judy Holliday, had formed a musical comedy troupe. These “Revuers” as they called themselves, were soon to play an important part in their new friend’s musical development. Bernstein left to take
up a place at the Philadelphia Curtis Institute majoring in piano and conducting (under Fritz Reiner and financially supported by Mitropoulos) then, after a move to Tanglewood studying under Koussevitzky, came the
historic opening night at Carnegie Hall. From the outset, Bernstein was showing the eclectic side of his nature and his varied musical tastes. He was equally at home with the late night, hard drinking Broadway
crowd as he was directing an international symphony orchestra at a white tie event.
Although he was soon swamped by conducting offers, Bernstein insisted on keeping some time
aside for composition, especially for the stage. After being sought out by choreographer Jerome Robbins,
they joined forces to create the successful ballet Fancy Free (1944) soon followed by the hit On The Town
(1945) featuring old friends Comden and Green (filmed a few years later with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra)
then came Trouble in Tahiti (1952) and the award-winning Wonderful Town (1953), again with Comden and
Green, and finally the ambitious but disappointing Candide. But all these attempts at composing the great
American musical, which Bernstein hankered after, were about to be overshadowed by his next production,
West Side Story of 1957 which proved an enormous hit as well as a gritty departure from the usual conventions of the Broadway musical.
As early as 1949 Robbins had approached Bernstein suggesting a musical update of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet involving feuding between Jews and Catholics in turn of the century New York.
Lyricist Stephen Sondheim and writer Arthur Laurents updated the action to the present day (1950s) and
changed the location from the East Side to the West. Bernstein, Laurents, Robbins and Sondheim became a
team motivated by a desire to make a statement about the racial intolerance in American society dominating
the liberal agenda at the time. Bernstein worked single-mindedly at the score despite other distractions such
as his appointment as joint principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra along with its punishing commitments and his demanding recording contracts. The show opened in August 1957 in Washington
then New York the following month running for two years (772 performances) then nationally for a year until
returning to New York in 1960 for another 253 performances. It was made into a feature film in 1961 starring
George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn and Natalie Wood (sung by Marni Nixon). At the producer’s
request, the film was co-directed by Robbins and Robert Wise, who had edited for Orson Welles and was
later to direct the film of The Sound of Music (1965). Eventually, Robbins was fired from the set after rehearsing and re-rehearsing the dancers until they literally dropped. He had great difficulty deciding when a
shot or a performance was good enough to print leading to major overruns and weeks of delay. Robert Wise
took sole charge and the film won an unprecedented 10 Oscars including the award for Best Picture. The
London production opened in December 1958 and after more than 1,000 performances closed two and a half
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years later. Broadway revivals were staged in 1980 and 2009.
West Side Story immediately caught the public’s imagination because, on the one hand, it represented a true reflection of the widespread violence and inter-racial intolerance found throughout the poorer
quarters of all US cities at the time whilst, on the other hand, offering a version of the familiar romantic story
of “star-crossed lovers” struggling against all odds to find each other, so popular with writers of opera. The
story of Romeo and Juliet had long attracted earlier composers such as Bellini with his opera I Capuleti e i
Montecchi of 1830 then Berlioz, whose choral symphony of 1839 was inspired by his obsession with the
English actress Harriet Smithson, and Gounod with his five-act opera of 1867. Perhaps best known is
Tchaikovsky’s 1869 fantasy overture and in more modern times, Prokofiev’s 1935 ballet score, excerpts from
which seem to crop up in almost every TV advertisement these days.
The story follows Shakespeare quite faithfully but instead of the Montagues and Capulets we have
the Jets, a street gang of Polish-American makeup, taking on the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, seen as
unwelcome immigrants to the neighbourhood and the two struggle for control in the Upper West Side of New
York. The Montagues crashing of the Capulet dance takes place in the local gym where Maria/Juliet and
Tony/Romeo find each other. Their balcony scene takes place on a fire escape and at the climax of the tragedy mutual stabbings during the fight (“rumble”) scene leads to an attack on the Nurse/Lady Capulet figure,
Anita, which leads Tony to believe Maria is dead. Tony dies and Maria survives to curse both gangs and the
pointlessness of violence.
Besides the realism of its story and its topicality, the staging of West Side Story offered a complete break with the past. With its imaginative and innovative dance steps, its unconventional sets and attractive parts for a number of singers (beside those in “star” parts) its success came as little surprise. Most influential of all was its fusion of musical worlds treated to Bernstein’s typically complex and memorable musical
ideas. The brash and blaring “Dance at the Gym” for example, is a daring pastiche of Latin themes, “Cool”
borrows from the world of US jazz reminiscent of the late Dave Brubeck, “One Hand, One Heart” resembles a
hymn cum ballad and “Gee, Officer Krupke!” provides a comedic approach to social comment. The musical
highlights are however the ballad “Tonight” which leads into a rapturous ensemble, the yearning “Maria” and
the romantic and dreamlike “Somewhere” as well as the riotous chorus “America”. Although the play/film
owes it success to team work, the music of Bernstein dominates.
Recommended Recording
By far the best recording of West Side Story is the
video/DVD of the 1961 film. The visual realisation by director
Robert Wise is so important to the story that just listening to
the score from a CD feels a comparatively empty experience.
The DVD is currently available from amazon.co.uk for about
£5 (the CD costs £4 anyway.)
The other option is to listen to Bernstein’s exciting
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, a composition
which distils the musical highlights into a half hour concert
piece. Plenty of recordings to choose from.
For those who want the full musical sung to the
highest professional standards there is also a CD recording
Bernstein made with Kiri Ke Tanawa, Tatiana Troyanos and
Jose Carreras as a “crossover” venture in 1984 with a handpicked orchestra. However, the idea has been criticised as
Bernstein in his late years simply seeking to resurrect his most
popular work and raise it above the level of “musical”. There is
also a rehearsal DVD of this performance available which was
broadcast on TV.
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
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Winter’s 20 Musical Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
The entrant with the most correct answers will win a bundle of CDs
Which famous song did Claude Joseph Rouget de Lilse write?
What instrument did Johann Mälzel invent in 1814?
Who conducted the premiere of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah at Birmingham Town
Hall in 1846?
Who was the founder of the CBSO (then called the City of Birmingham Orchestra)?
Who is married to the Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena?
Which orchestra succeeded the BBC Opera Orchestra in 1952?
Which composer married Gertie Millar (who later became the Countess of Dudley)?
Who wrote the standards “Over There” and “Give My Regards to Broadway”?
Which composer, born in 1863, started out in life as organist at Salford Cathedral and
ended it bankrupt owing to gambling and drink?
What did the surveyor, Mr. Sadler discover at the bottom of his Islington garden in
1683?
Who wrote the music to the 1953 British comedy film Genevieve?
Who wrote the music to the 1954 American film starring Marlon Brando, On the
Waterfront?
Who wrote a musical fantasy in 1925 on one of the stories in Oscar Wilde’s
collection, The Happy Prince and Other Tales?
Who married the singer Dorothy Court in 1909?
Which composer replaced Henry Mancini as the writer of the score for Hitchcock’s
1972 film, Frenzy?
Which musician and champion golfer was born in New Zealand in 1912 and whose
parents eventually married when she was 16, probably bigamously ?
In which city was Maria Callas born?
Who wrote the 1915 hit song, “I Love a Piano”?
Who wrote the music to the children’s TV
show, The Wombles?
What is a clave?
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
17
Answers to Autumn’s 20 Musical Questions & Crossword
1. Who wrote the piece entitled Coronation Scot? Vivian Ellis
2. Which BBC Radio series used Coronation Scot as its theme music? Paul Temple
3. Which British composer wrote the dance Valse de la Reine as one of his Four Characteristic Waltzes
in 1898? Samuel Coleridge Taylor
4. Who wrote the opera The Queen of Spades in 1890? Tchaikovsky
5. Who wrote the Three Elizabeths Suite in 1944? Eric Coates
6. What was the title of the first piece in the Three Elizabeths Suite? Halcyon Days (Elizabeth Tudor)
7. What was the nationality of composer of the Queen Mab Scherzo in 1839? French (Berlioz)
8. What was the title of the symphony which contained the Queen Mab Scherzo? Romeo and Juliet
9. Which Austrian composer adapted Goethe’s poem The Erlking in 1815 for voice and piano?
Schubert
10. In which year did the composer of the 1811 overture, King Stephen, die? 1827 (Beethoven)
11. Who wrote the 1906 oratorio The Kingdom? Elgar
12. Who wrote the 1896 cantata King Olaf? Elgar
13. What was the name of the prince in Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lane? Siegfried
14. What is the alternative title given to the 1896 G&S musical comedy The Grand Duke? The
Statutory Duel
15. Who wrote the Emperor piano concerto in 1811? Beethoven
16. Which Austrian composer and his orchestra played at the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838?
Johann Strauss I
17. Which composer was responsible for the arrangement of “All People That on Earth Do Dwell”
played at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953? Vaughan Williams
18. In which year was the composer of the opera King Priam born? 1905 (Tippett)
19. Who set the poem “Rule Britannia!” to music in 1740? Thomas Arne
20. Who composed the 1911 operetta The King’s Bride? John Ansell
The winner of the autumn competition is Robin de Smet with 20 correct answers.
The winner of last issue’s musical crossword is Andrew Lamb. Congratulations to you
both. Two bundles of CDs will follow shortly.
This edition’s crossword is on page 27 (inside back cover).
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18
Past Concerts and Orchestral News
Diamond Jubilee Concert
The Promenade Concert Orchestra at The Platform, Morecambe
Royal Diamond Jubilees are very rare events and it is therefore
not at all surprising that concert organisers throughout the land
have sought to commemorate in musical form the Queen’s
achievement of sixty year’s service. Howard Rogerson, the
conductor of the Promenade Concert Orchestra, had put together
another of his idiosyncratic and varied programmes to mark the
event and the almost sub-tropical heat inside the Platform did not
deter either the capacity audience or the players from contentedly
wallowing in two hours of nostalgic, celebratory but quality musicmaking. To assist in creating a sense of occasion, two local
primary schools, Lancaster Road and St Mary’s RC, had
constructed two splendid crowns which adorned the venue, the orchestra sported red white or blue tops, and the conductor
had put together a small display of fascinating royal memorabilia.
The carefully selected works played all had some royal or patriotic connection – either as ceremonial pieces, music
written about individual kings and queens, or compositions that had other associations with royalty. Pieces by light
orchestral composers such as Coates, Haydn Wood and Binge happily rubbed shoulders with those by the more august
Handel, Parry, Elgar, Britten and Walton. Highlights of the afternoon included Walton’s magnificent march, Crown Imperial,
composed for the 1937 coronation, Binge’s evergreen Elizabethan Serenade from 1952, Britten’s evocative Five Courtly
Dances from Gloriana (1953) and Coates’ extremely fine wartime Three Elizabeths Suite, in which there was some expert
solo oboe playing from Nigel Atkinson and Keith Strachan. There were some rarities too – the concert opened with a short
but impressive brass fanfare by Tippett, whilst Maxine Molin played a hauntingly beautiful harp solo by Queen Victoria’s
harpist, John Thomas, and baritone Brian Lancaster gave a clear rendering of Britain’s Call to Duty from 1914, which, in
the sad light of later events, must now be regarded as a particularly bitter sweet patriotic song. The fine orchestral
arrangement accompanying this song had been specially produced by the Edinburgh-based arranger, composer and
performer Robin Hiley. Not often heard also was a very effective purely orchestral arrangement of Handel’s famous and
rousing Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest.
This concert ended the fifth successful season of the Promenade Concert Orchestra’s ‘Music for You’ presentations, for
which we have to thank Howard Rogerson who as usual clearly enjoyed linking the various items in the programme
together from the rostrum with a mixture of anecdotes and useful information. The orchestra, led on this occasion by the
experienced and accomplished Wendy Cann, played what was a far from easy programme with considerable enthusiasm
and finesse, each section clearly enjoying their occasional moments of prominence. After some lively ‘Last Night of the
Proms’ communal activity, the afternoon, very appropriately, came to a close with the singing of the National Anthem in the
arrangement by the late Roger Cann. David Alder
Northern Sinfonia Light Music Concert
The Gateshead Sage, 16 September 2012
The third weekend of September is usually a busy one on Tyneside, with the Great North Run and many associated
events. In 2012 it also coincided with the launch evening of the Northern Sinfonia’s 2012/13 season. Even better, the
orchestra launched this season under the baton of principal conductor John Wilson with “Calling All Workers”, a
programme of light music favourites that was guaranteed to bring back lots of memories for those in the audience. Mr
Wilson is of course a local lad to us and the tumult of applause which greeted his first appearance on the stage provided
strong evidence of the regard in which he is held here. The concert began, as expected, with Eric Coates’ Calling All
Workers and proceeded with a programme which would have been familiar to all those of a certain age. Signature tunes
chosen brought back memories of Paul Temple and Dick Barton and there was a link with the present as we were
transported to a certain desert island in Eric Coates’ Sleepy Lagoon.
There were two complete suites in the programme, Coates’ Summer Days and Haydn Wood’s London Landmarks,
which includes the Down Your Way tune in its closing evocation of the Horse Guards, Whitehall. Haydn Wood’s Sketch of
a Dandy is perhaps not one of his most familiar pieces but what a charmer it is. There was a nod to British light music’s
origins with the Overtures to the Yeomen of the Guard and Nell Gwyn, by Sullivan and German respectively. Humour was
provided by Robert Farnon’s Jumping Bean and two waltzes, Dusk by Armstrong Gibbs and Fred Hartley’s Rouge et Noir
(a well-remembered Palm Court favourite) gave us a little gentleness amongst all the fun.
Given that we usually see the Sinfonia play a symphonic programme, it was wonderful to note them applying the same
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
19
level of technical skill and care to this much lighter programme. The expressions on the players’ faces were evidence
indeed of how much they were enjoying playing the programme, as was the audience. John Wilson proved again that he is
not only a complete master of this genre but also a thoroughly amusing and entertaining raconteur, as his links between
the pieces demonstrated. And so, all too soon, we got to the last item on the show, Coates’ Knightsbridge March. But the
audience in its response made it clear that it wasn’t letting the conductor and players go as easily as that and was
rewarded by an encore performance of John Malcolm’s Non Stop, recognised by many as the ITV News music of
yesteryear. So ended a delightful evening. It was excellent that Classic FM recorded the concert for transmission the
following evening (and, yes, I did listen all over again!) but I must take issue with them for dispensing with many of John
Wilson’s spoken links.
The concert had been well advertised, so it was disappointing that the hall was only about half full. Is this a sign of
general economic malaise or do we still have an uphill struggle in getting the general public to appreciate these wonderful
tunes? What can be said with certainty is that those who were absent missed a splendid evening and I look forward
eagerly to more when the opportunity arises. Ian Warburton
Summer Music in Sidcup
Some 50 musicians from Sidcup and district, including many members
of the Sidcup Symphony Orchestra, enjoyed a week of music making
recently, organized by Malcolm and Sheila Youngs and based mainly at
the Holy Redeemer Church in Days Lane. The week has become a
traditional summer attraction and gives the musicians a chance to play
both familiar and unfamiliar music and enjoy many social activities. One
regular highlight of the week is a ‘Coffee Morning’ concert in aid of church
funds where members of the Marlowe Ensemble played tuneful favourites
from the light music repertoire, which are seldom heard today, to a large
and appreciative audience.
Malcolm Youngs (cond.),
Other sessions were based on the Lamorbey String Orchestra (which
John Bessell (oboe soloist) and John Pell
meets at Hurst Community Centre) and the high point of the week for them
(composer)
was a world premiere of Summers Lease, a concerto for oboe and strings
by Canterbury composer, John Pell. The oboe soloist was John Bessell. The week also included a classical symphony
session which gave the opportunity to play symphonies by Haydn and Mozart; and a last night bonanza where a large
orchestra essayed Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony.
The orchestral sessions were augmented by chamber music at the players’ homes and there was a gathering for an
evening of ‘party pieces’ which ranged from a Mozart piano trio to a ukulele solo. These music weeks have been taking
place for several years now. They are greatly enjoyed by those who take part and show that there is more musical life in
Sidcup than might be generally realized. Malcolm Youngs
Eric Coates Society meeting, October 6th 2012
The October meeting of the Eric Coates Society was an outstanding success. Acclaimed pianist Haruko
Seki was welcomed to Hucknall to play a varied programme, including music by Chopin, Gershwin, Saint
Saens, Joplin and, of course, Eric Coates.
The occasion was of particular importance because also included were the premier performances of
three previously unpublished songs gifted to the society. These were beautifully sung by young soloist Laura
Roberts, accompanied by Michael Neaum. It seems that in early 2012 the society was contacted by a lady
from Devon who had in her possession three original manuscripts of songs by Eric Coates, all for Mezzo
Soprano. The three pieces were donated to the Eric Coates Society. They were written in 1906 and
dedicated to Sybil Welsh and her sister Celia. The three songs are entitled Love’s Philiosophy, To a Maiden
and Tit for Tat.
Copies of the manuscripts have been given to the Eric Coates Society President, John Wilson.
FOR THAT LAST STOCKING FILLER, HURRY TO AMAZON.CO.UK TYPE IN RECD564 IN THE SEARCH BOX WHERE
YOU WILL FIND:- GREAT CHRISTMAS CLASSICS". IAIN SUTHERLAND CONDUCTS THE CITY OF GLASGOW
PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA. ALL YOUR FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS MUSIC BUT WITH ONE EXCEPTIONAL EXTRA
TRACK MAKING IT A MUST FOR ALL LIGHT MUSIC LOVERS:- "THE THREE BEARS" BY ERIC COATES (dur.9.45)
HAPPY CHRISTMAS LISTENING!
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
20
Book Review
William Vincent Wallace: Composer, Virtuoso and
Adventurer by Andrew Lamb
Fullers Wood Press, 2012, pp. 237, ISBN 978 0 9524149 7 1
To mark the bicentenary of Wallace’s birth, Dr. Lamb has
produced what must be the definitive account of an intriguing life. Born
in Waterford in 1812 and raised in a warm musical environment,
William was encouraged by his father to play the violin and piano. He
spent his teenage years as a member of a theatre orchestra in Dublin
performing alongside his father and brother until at the age of 18 he
was appointed organist at the Cathedral chapel of Thurles, County
Tipperary. Within a year or two he married and started a family but
decided to take his wife and infant son to Australia, apparently for
reasons of health. Here he began to make a name for himself as a
virtuoso performer as well as a promising composer. However, debts
mounted and in order to escape his creditors (and his family) he sailed
off alone bound for South America.
At this point the facts of Wallace’s life become blurred.
Either to avoid the shame of abandoning his family or to further
confuse his creditors, Wallace increasingly mixed fact with fantasy in accounting for his whereabouts and
activities during the course of the next few years. For example, his journey from Australia to Chile was
supposedly taken by way of New Zealand, India and the East Indies. Wallace described improbable life or
death brushes with savages and wild animals, encounters with hordes of dusky maidens as well as fanciful
mutinies at sea. In the end he turned up in Mexico and found his way to the USA. In 1844, nine years after
he left, Wallace returned to England where he was reunited with his unhappy wife who appears to have
attempted suicide after he left her in no doubt that their marriage was at an end.
Wallace’s circumstances were transformed with the production in 1845 of his first successful
opera, Maritana which brought him fame both at home and abroad. He continued to write for the stage
although opportunities for production were few and far between so he concentrated on writing salon piano
pieces and songs. He developed a relationship with pianist Hélène Stoebel whom he apparently married in
1850 despite the fact his wife was still alive. The union produced two children, both born in the US, to where
their parents had moved and where Wallace eventually won American citizenship.
In 1860 Covent Garden staged the premiere of Wallace’s other key opera, Lurline, written some
years before, which became a huge success not only in England but also the US and Australia. Queen
Victoria was an enthusiast. Wallace spent his middle and later years as a happily settled family man
encouraged by friends and active supporters (such as Berlioz), maintaining his reputation by producing a
wide range of songs and instrumental pieces (happily now in the process of rediscovery) but without quite
being able to replicate his earlier operatic successes, eventually dying in France in 1865.
Dr. Lamb undertakes three narratives in this book: the development of Wallace’s musical
achievements, a detailed account of the 19th Century social and musical context in which he worked and a
cool reappraisal of the accounts of his hazardous early life, forensically stripping away the stories which have
built up over time. Lamb does this with impeccable scholarship and wide-ranging research based on a
search for hard evidence rather than a reliance on various accounts which have been passed down from
biographer to biographer. The book is very readable, concise and sparing of technicalities. It includes a
complete list of compositions and CD recordings to date and would make an ideal birthday or Christmas gift
for any light music enthusiast. Neil Patrick
“William Vincent Wallace” is also available direct from the author (post free) £20 UK, £22.50 Europe, £25 elsewhere (if
paid with order) payment by £ sterling cheque - payable to Andrew Lamb at 1 Squirrel Wood, West Byfleet, KT14 6PE or
online or by credit card through PayPal to andrewlamb@gmail.com.
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
Points of Interest, Enquiries and Requests
Neil Richmond of Harrogate writes:
In the summer 2012 issue, amongst the excellent
articles about resort and spa orchestras, reference
was made to Julius Greenway Harrison and his
association with Harrogate Municipal music. This I
am sure is a mistake as we cannot find any reference
to him regarding his association with the town. Was it
supposed to be Hastings? The two most important
directors were Julian Clifford and Basil Cameron who
left in 1930 when the municipal was disbanded.
Philip Scowcroft replies:
Mr. Richmond is correct. It was two of Harrison’s
predecessors at Hastings who established and, for a
time maintained, the connection between Harrogate
and Hastings in circa 1919, the orchestra playing at
Harrogate only in the summer and, unusually for a
seaside orchestra, at Hastings only in the winter.
They were Julian Clifford, almost certainly the elder
Julian Clifford, who died in 1921 (it is often eminently
possible to confuse the two similarly named Cliffords,
father and son) and Basil Cameron, in post(s) 192021.
Tony Claydon writes:
May I please be permitted to add a couple of
items to Philip Scowcroft’s Music and the Olympic
Games article (LMSM Autumn 2012)? There is
actually a piece called The Olympic March by the late
Ronald Hanmer – this was written sometime in the
late 40s/early 50s. In 1964, for the Tokyo Olympic
Games the BBC used Tokyo Melody, by Helmut
Zacharias, to introduce their extensive coverage of
that event. The record, complete with its ‘B’ side,
Teatime In Tokyo, made it into the charts!
Re the comment about the overture to The
Arcadians, this was put together, as stated by
Andrew Lamb, by the show’s Musical Director Arthur
Wood (he of Barwick Green fame). It might interest
readers to know that this overture, in the original
performance conducted by Arthur Wood, and the
Ronald Hanmer piece mentioned above, are both
available on CDs in the Guild Light Music series,
which is now rapidly approaching its hundredth
release! They are, of course, obtainable from
Malcolm Osman, who runs the RFS Record Service.
Re the article on Alyn Ainsworth in the last issue, I
have in my collection a CD entitled Alyn Ainsworth –
Swing Time (EMI Gold 243 5 26340 2 0). This has 25
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
21
of the old NDO tracks, but there is no mention of
the name of the orchestra - I would guess it could
have been our friends from Manchester on their day
off ! There are no liner notes, just the list of titles
and publishers, and, in one case only, the arranger
(Alan Roper), whose version of On Ilkley Moor
Baht’At is included. I have no idea when or where
this material was recorded, but the booklet states
Digitally Remastered (P) 2000 & (C) 2000; it must
date from much earlier than that, probably the late
70s/early 80s. Can anyone shed some light on this,
please?
Whoops!!
A couple of hawk-eyed entrants to the “20
Musical Questions” competition from the last issue
pointed out that two questions were inaccurate.
Robin de Smet drew my attention to question 10
which referred to Beethoven’s King Stephen music
as an opera whereas, of course, Fidelio is his only
opera. Norman Blow of Rochester pointed out that
question 16 asked which composer played at the
coronation of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert,
overlooking the fact that Albert of course was never
crowned! Thank you both... (will try to be more
careful in future!)
Neil Patrick
LMS Offers
Facsimiles of the earliest LMS magazines from the
late 1950s are still available - we are now up to the
ninth issue taking us to March 1960. £3.50 including
p&p. As usual, full colour reprints of all the pictures
on the back cover can be purchased sized either A4
(£2.50) or B4 (£3.50). Prices include p&p.
Also available are copies of the BBC 4 television
documentary made in 2004, entitled “A Little Light
Music”, (for a donation of £5 to the LMS); and there
are copies of the Radio 4 “Archive on 4” interview with
ET and Hilary made in June 2011 ( £2.50) - all prices
cover the p&p.
A CD FOR PRIVATE LISTENING ONLY of the
2011 LMS concert in Morecambe is available, for a
donation of £5 to the LMS. Gavin made this reference
recording at the concert. For the 2012 AGM Gavin
made a DVD of an interview with Ernest Tomlinson
which was shown to members. Copies of this are also
available, again for a donation to the LMS.
For any of these offers, please contact Hilary
Ashton, 19a Eshton Terrace, Clitheroe, BB7 1BQ. or
email hilary.ashton@talk21.com
22
Delius. Scottish National
Orchestra conducted by
Sir Andrew Davis
Chandos CHAN 10742
CD Reviews
March No. 1 (Elgar). *Soloists:
Joan Hammond and Shura
Cherkassky.
This CD is made up of selected
Sargent “lollipops” recorded (in
a studio rather than the Royal
Albert Hall regardless of the
dubbed applause) in 1959,
other than the Holst from 1956.
Like many conductors, the
further Sargent fades into the
past, the more we seem to
appreciate him. All the same, I
anticipated reviewing this CD
with only a fair amount of
Brigg Fair; Paris; Idylle de
enthusiasm until the second
Printemps; Piano Concerto.
track made me sit up sharply.
This is one for all light music
The reason being the luminous
lovers with Delius at his best.
voice of Joan Hammond who
The luscious Piano Concerto is here sings Tatiana’s letter song
the original three movement
from Eugene Onegin (in
work rather than the usual
English) so beautifully. What a
condensed one movement,
wonderfully distinctive voice
while Spring Idyll (English
she had and how much she is
translation) was never
missed! She would have been
performed in the composer’s
in her mid-40s at the time of
lifetime but is terrific. If you
this recording but there is no
don’t know Brigg Fair and Paris mistaking the voice. The rest of
then now is the time to discover the disc cannot hope to
them! Great stuff.
compete but for any fan of
Peter Worsley Hammond, Sargent or the great
Cherkassky this will be a most
Sir Malcolm Sargent
welcome piece of
BBC Symphony Orchestra
reminiscence.
NP
An Evening at the Proms
Guild GHCD 2393
Overture di Ballo (Sullivan),
Tatiana’s Letter Scene*
(Tchaikovsky), Slavonic Dance
op. 72, No. 2 (Dvorak), Beni
Mora (Holst), Fete Polonaise
(Chabrier), Andante Cantabile
from String Quartet No. 1
(Tchaikovsky), Scherzo*
(Litolff), Pomp & Circumstance
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
Clarinet Concertos
BBC Symphony Orchestra
soloist/conductor Michael
Collins
Chandos CHAN 10739
The three concertos on offer
here are very different but
equally entertaining. Stanford
is what you would expect from
the grand English tradition,
tuneful and straightforward but
Finzi reflects his darker
enigmatic side. Malcolm
Arnold, however, is at his most
flamboyant and one can just
imagine the girls of St.
Trinian's running amok,
especially in the flashy final
movement which, at just over
two minutes, long must rank as
possibly the shortest ever
movement of any concerto.
Edmund Whitehouse
A Musical Life in the Royal
Marines
Sketches of Childhood
Major John Perkins
John Perkins was for many
years a Royal Marines Director
of Music (retired 2000); two
CDs, recently issued by
Clovelly, celebrate his
enjoyable gift for composition.
Sketches of Childhood (CLCD
19912) includes pieces for the
baptism of his two grandsons,
Jack’s Piece and, a Scots
lullaby, Cole’s Dreams. The
former appears in two versions,
the latter in three, by the
Clovelly Studio Orchestra
conducted by Perkins who also
plays solo violin. There is only
one other piece, the shapely
Elegy at Sunset for strings
written when he was studying
at the RAM in 1980 but here
revised. The CD is only 46’ 31”
– short measure as well as
repetitive.
The other disc, A Musical Life
in the Royal Marines (74’ 80”) is
a compilation of tracks from
past CDs though Elegy at
Sunset again figures. It
includes arrangements by
Perkins and compositions –
rousing marches (Dunkirk
Veterans, 539 Assault
Squadron, New Comrades, The
Mansfield Matelots and The
Hydographer), the lively, if
commonplace The Falklands
Overture (1982) and the gentle
Remembrance Day. Most
interesting of the arrangements
is the appealing Vesper Hymn
written for piano by Kenneth
Alford. PLS
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
British Works for Cello and
Piano
Paul Watkins (cello) and Huw
Watkins (piano) Chandos
CHAN 10741
The two brothers cut a dash and
if you like cello sonatas you will
like this CD. The composers are
Parry, Delius, Bantock and the
much under-rated John Foulds.
Peter Worsley
Light Music While You Work,
Volume 4
Guild GLCD 5198
MWYW was a longstanding
feature of “the wireless”; less
well known, even in the 1940s,
is that it has its own Decca
MWYW label from which Guild
has issued this selection.
Perhaps more than the music,
the ensembles, all MWYW
regulars, are the major features,
especially Harry Fryer, Ronnie
Munro, Harry Davidson, Richard
Green and Harold Collins. But
the music deserves a summary:
many waltzes by Johann
Strauss ll (three), Archibald
Joyce (two), Waldteufel,
Ivanovici and Becucci (Tesoro
Mio), two movements from
Coates’ adorable Summer Days,
the marches Yankee Grit and
Old Faithful by Sousa
soundalike Abe Holzmann (but
23
not Blaze Away!), three
catchy items played by Harold
Collins (Barnard Barnes’
Dainty Miss, Wynford
Reynolds’ Light and Shade
and George Blackmore’s
Knuckledust), a march medley
by Horatio Nicholls, and much
else, not always obvious; we
hear Johnny Heykens’
Serenade Number 2, not the
usual Number 1. Excellent
transfers and presentation – a
notable historic reissue. PLS
Parry. BBC National
Orchestra & Chorus of
Wales conducted by Neeme
Jarvi. Chandos CHAN 10740
Surprisingly, this mainly
choral CD contains four
premier recordings, namely
Te Deum, Magnificat, Birds of
the Aristophanes (an
orchestral suite) and Glories
of Our Blood and State. The
other songs are Jerusalem
and England, the latter being
John O’Gaunt’s Verse
paraphrased from
Shakespeare. Edmund
Whitehouse
Melody Mixture
Guild GLCD 5197
There is no particular theme
to this Guild release but we
have plenty of tuneful delight:
many film and TV tunes, Duke
Ellington’s atmospheric
Caravan (the longest track on
the disc) and many “library
music” miniatures new to me
– With Tongue in Cheek
(Trevor Duncan), cheeky
indeed, Peter Hope’s Spring
Collection, Ron Goodwin’s
24
typically expansive Pleasure
Island, Fred Hartley’s Alma Mia,
Angela Morley’s amusingly
jaunty Dear Old Pals, Cyril
Watter’s Leaps and Bounds,
Wilfred Burns’ Peacock in
Piccadilly, Brandy Snaps (Peter
Yorke), Chicken Noodle (Peter
Dennis), and Walter Collins’ On
Stage. One “sub-theme” is Dolf
Van Der Linden (six tracks as
conductor, one as composer),
another is road transport, three
lively items by Van Der Linden
(Cab Rank), Roger Roger
(Route Nationale) and Harold
Geller (Continental Highways). A
mixture of delights, well
presented as always. Five
tracks are composer directed.
Warmly recommended. PLS
was closely associated with
several radio programmes,
including Grand Hotel, plus the
palm court tradition at
Scarborough where he was
resident for 25 years. The
tracks speak for themselves,
some of which are with his
famous trio with Reginald
Kilbey and Jack Byfield.
Flight of the Bumblebee; Black
Eyes; Vagabond King: Forgotten
Dreams; Dobra Dobra; Czardas;
Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair;
Gypsy Cha Cha; Edelweiss; On
Wings of Song; Gypsy Hora;
Beautiful Dreamer; Heyken’s
Serenade; Hungarian Dances
Nos. 1 & 5; Fantasy on Nursery
Rhymes; The Last Rose of
Summer; Londonderry Air;
Barcarolle; Doina Voda; Come
Back to Sorrento; All the Things
Max Jaffa And The Palm Court You Are; I’ll See You in My
Orchestra
Dreams; Waltzing in the Clouds.
fox-trots or quick-steps with a
single waltz in the shape of
“When Our Dreams Grown Old”
based on the classic French
song Plaisir d’Amour. All the
CG arrangements are sublime
as you would expect and there
are far too many exceptional
tracks to list here on this highly
recommended CD. Andy Bate
“Spin a Little Web of Dreams”
Vocalion Limited CDEA 6201
Roy Fox and his Band at the
Café De Paris – Volume 9
If you haven’t already got
volumes 1-8 then no matter, this
collection of twenty four
recordings all ‘cut’ between 9th
March 1934 and 4th May 1934
contains a wonderful selection
of popular hits from the period.
Notable tracks include
“Midnight, The Stars and You”,
Yesterday’s Music C141
Edmund Whitehouse
“One Morning in May”, “Little
Evergreen magazine produced
“Rustic Rhapsody”
Dutch Mill”, “Beside My
this tribute CD in conjunction
Vocalion Limited CDEA 6200
Caravan”, “The Very Thought of
with a detailed article about the
Carroll Gibbons & the Savoy You”, “Little Man You’ve Had a
great light music maestro in their
Orpheans Volume 13
Busy Day”, “Over My Shoulder”
autumn issue. Surprisingly, Max
Twenty four excellent
and of course many more…
spent his pre-war years as a
recordings ranging from 1937 Most of the numbers are sung
dance band musician but
through to 1946; well over half by either Denny Dennis or
became synonymous with all
of which feature female
Peggy Dell with band trumpeter
that is good about light music
vocalists Anne Lenner and
Sid Buckman stepping up to the
after wartime service as an RAF
Rita Williams and a single
mic’ on the very jazzy up-tempo
fighter and bomber pilot.
track, “Journey’s End” sung by “Swaller Tail Coat”.
Resuming his fiddle playing he
Jill Manners. Male vocalists
Arrangements are the variety of
feature Leslie Douglas, Denny life, and it’s great to hear how
Vaughan and Eric Whitley.
different bands put their own
Notably on “Who Am I?”
mark on familiar tunes. Roy
written by Walter Bullock &
Fox’s treatment of “The Very
Jule Styne for the film Hit
Thought of You” probably could
Parade of 1941, we are treated not be further away from the
to the rustic tones of the
(AB?) version you are thinking
maestro himself. For the
of now! A very refreshing
dancers amongst you, the
selection great numbers and a
tracks are predominantly either must have CD. Andy Bate
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
Obituaries
25
Max Bygraves
Max Bygraves died last August aged 89 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He was an allround entertainer, a family name and a singer of popular novelty numbers such as “Meet Me on the Corner”,
“You Need Hands”, “Tulips from Amsterdam” and “You’re a Pink Toothbrush”.
He was born Walter William Bygraves to a large family in Rotherhithe, south-east London. The
family lived in a two-room flat and money was scarce. He attended St Joseph's
school, Rotherhithe and at one point sang with his school choir at Westminster
Cathedral. To earn his keep his father, a boxer, dressed him up in an old army
cap, gave him a broom for a rifle and told him to sing to an audience of
dockers. He was an instant hit.
After leaving school he started out as a messenger boy then as a
carpenter's apprentice until he decided to volunteer for the RAF in 1940 as a
fitter. He met his future wife, Blossom Murray, in the WAAF and they married in
1942. Bygraves started entertaining the troops and performed in pubs, doing
impressions of Frank Sinatra and Max Miller (earning him the nickname Max)
and eventually decided to become a full-time entertainer.
After the war he considered emigrating to Australia but was offered
work with the BBC radio series They're Out which featured other entertainers
such as Spike Milligan, Jimmy Edwards, Frankie Howerd, Harry Secombe and
Benny Hill and followed this with the comedy series, Educating Archie starring
Peter Brough and written by Eric Sykes. He made his debut the London Palladium in 1950, standing in for the
Ted Ray and came to star in 19 Royal Variety Performances in all. His delivery was always casual littered
with his familiar catchphrases such as "A good idea, son!" and "I wanna tell you a story". He was awarded a
total of 31 gold discs and was appointed OBE in 1983.
NP
Hal David
Along with his song-writing partner, Burt Bacharach, the lyricist Hal David, who died in September
at the age of 91, produced such songs as “Anyone Who Had a Heart”, “I Say a Little Prayer”, “Walk on By”,
“(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me”, “Alfie”, “Trains and Boats and Planes”, “(They Long to
Be) Close to You”, “Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head” and “Do You
Know the Way to San Jose?”
David was born in Manhattan, the son of Austrian-Jewish immigrants. His
older brother Mack was the first to turn to songwriting with the light-hearted
ballad “I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So”. Hal started out as a copywriter for the
New York Post but following wartime service he decided to follow Mack's
lead.
Before working with Bacharach, his successes included Sarah Vaughan’s
“Broken-Hearted Melody” then in 1957 together with Bacharach he wrote
“The Story of My Life” for Marty Robbins, followed by Perry Como’s “Magic
Moments” which turned out to be a worldwide hit. David and Bacharach
thereafter became a team, writing “24 Hours from Tulsa” for Gene Pitney, Dusty Springfield’s “The Look of
Love”, “Make It Easy on Yourself” for Jerry Butler, “What's New, Pussycat?” for Tom Jones and “Message to
Martha” (Kentucky Bluebird) for Lou Johnson. The duo also created the successful musical Promises,
Promises in 1968 and received an Oscar for the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head” from the film
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But with the failure of the film Lost Horizon (1973) came the break-up
of their partnership. They did not work together again for 20 years. David served for many years as the
president of ASCAP, the songwriters' royalty-collection agency.
Lucy Molloy
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
26
George Hurst (1926-2012)
Hurst, born in Edinburgh of Russian- Romanian parentage,
studied piano but became better known from the 1950s as a conductor,
notably of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra (now BBC Philharmonic),
the Bournemouth SO and Sinfonietta (which latter he founded in 1968) and
Dublin’s RTE Orchestra. For over 50 years he masterminded a conductors’
course at Canford Summer School in Dorset. I remember with affection an
LP with him conducting lesser known Elgar with the Bournemouth Orchestra
the Starlight Express and Arthur suites, but know of no compositions by him.
PLS
Ian Parrott
Ian Horace Parrott died in September at the advanced age of 96. London
born, he was latterly associated with Wales. For 33 years he was professor
of music at Aberystwyth having been at New College, Oxford and having
taught at Malvern College and Birmingham University. He published several
books including a biography of Elgar; his compositions were astonishingly
prolific and included three symphonies and operas like: Black Ram (1951)
using Welsh folksongs, and The Sergeants-Major’s Daughter, a burlesque
opera produced when on war service in Egypt. His concertos included one
for cor anglais – a rarity – and much of his output was arguably what we
would reckon as light music: Four Shakespeare Dances (1956), Malvern
March (1938), Flourish for a Royal Visit for small orchestra and Fantasie on Welsh Tunes for brass band. A
prelude El Alamein and the symphonic impression Luxor recall his service in Egypt.
PLS
Peter Dempsey
How sad it was to hear of the passing of Peter on 27th
August at the early age of just 59. I first met Peter when
he was singing as one of The Three English Tenors in a
concert at West Bromwich Town Hall in 2001. As a fellow
champion of Ketèlbey's music I remember him being 'over
the moon' that I had written a biography on the composer,
and soon realised what a generous and great character he
was.
As a perfectionist, with his soft tenor voice and brilliant
diction, it really was a joy to hear him sing with his longstanding friend and piano accompanist, Guy Rowland.
How grateful we are for all they have done in furthering the
ballad songs, not only of Ketèlbey but several other composers,
including Eric Coates and Haydn Wood.
Peter always struggled to come to terms with those in
the music establishment who disregarded what he saw as quality
music, and he was never afraid to air his views on their lack of
knowledge in this respect. So it was with determination that he
financed and produced with Guy Rowland several excellent CDs of
the ballad songs he loved. The same determination led him to
produce, in conjunction with HNH International Ltd and the
expertise of Tom McCanna, the four Naxos Historical Recordings
of Ketèlbey’s music, which he was able to do from his massive
collection of old 78rpm records. Our condolences go out to Peter's
sister Maureen and family and also to Guy. Thanks Peter for
leaving us a wonderful legacy, we will truly miss you. John Sant.
ISSUE 58—WINTER 2012
Musical Prize Crossword by Rigoletto
1
2
8
3
4
5
6
7
9
10
11
12
13
16
14
17
19
20
23
24
27
15
17 Relieves what Dyson does without being fashionable
(5)
18 US musician drops holy Cornwall town (4)
19 Handy, poorly Sue caught 'flu (6)
21 Thank God 'Enry starts ‘Andel’s chorus (8)
23 Ancient herb gets help with dancing? (3, 5)
26 Reindeer and Pavlova (6)
27 Roughly, I help sound amplify (10)
28 Gull has odds on hooray, then adds a kiss (4)
18
21
22
25
26
28
Across
8
9
10
11
12
Full house without its last crooner (4)
Paul's Father Thames? (2, 3, 5)
Dispel rumours about drink (6)
Serpent's tube? (8)
Commissioned elite bargains about the first pair of
icons (8)
14 Fish for a wriggling British trout (6)
16 Seduces but lose both taps for weapons (4)
Down
1 Agricultural tuning instruments? (10)
2 Foreign pigs tore into indulgences (3, 5)
3 Tucker served in the Aesop hierarchy (6)
4 Duck! Three points out of four involve marriage! (4)
5 Cadences after the chapter? (3,5)
6 Big fairground bird? (6)
7 9's last before quiet for Paul's voice (4)
13 Present company every December? (5)
15 Butterfly just needs no rain for 24 hours (3, 4, 3)
17 Lord Doonican reverses flying maiden (8)
18 Fairy misbehaves in a hotel (8)
20 Work out when overweight and short of abode (6)
22 Snobbish boy with princess (2-2-2)
24 You can see through this Belgium town (4)
25 Authentic part of Dutch town (4)
Entries to Neil Patrick, 8 Tweedy’s Court, Chipping, Preston
PR3 2QY by January 31st 2013. A bundle of CDs will be
awarded to the winner.
Please see page 17 for the solution to last issue’s puzzle.
Subscriptions for 2013
Message from the Treasurer, Jan Mentha
Library of Light Orchestral Music
Administered by the Light Music Society
Lancaster Farm, Chipping Lane, Longridge,
Preston, PR3 2NB
Subscriptions, Donations – Legacies!
A subscription renewal form for 2013 is enclosed
Librarian: Hilary Ashton
with this magazine. Please fill in and return as soon as
Assistant Librarians: Judith Topper & Helen Andrews
possible.
Usual Office Hours
Thanks to all for paying your subscriptions. Standing
Wednesdays and Fridays 9.30 am – 3.30 pm
orders are the least hassle for us, but no problem if you
prefer to send a cheque. I will acknowledge receipt if you hilary.ashton@talk21.com Phone: 077 1920 5264
Out of library hours please email
let me know your email address, but in the interests of
or phone 01200 427066 or 077 1920 5264
time and keeping administrative costs to a minimum, it
isn’t possible to post written receipts.
HIRE CHARGES
Many thanks also for your donations - whatever the
The hire period is for up to three months from
size, they are all appreciated. If you are making a will, you receiving the music although it may not be possible to
may want to consider a legacy to the Society.
have popular pieces for this long.
Usual charges are £25 per set (£35 for suites or longer
Subscriptions are:
works), £2.50 per individual part.
Groups/organisations/families £25; Individuals £18;
£5.00
per
song or Piano Conductor. All plus p&p.
European £22;
Rest of the world
£30.
Each
set
is
charged at £10 per extra month required,
I’m happy to (try to) answer any queries, and do enjoy
but this must be negotiated separately as popular
the messages and notes that are sent with your
works are often booked well in advance.
membership forms and cheques.
Payment is due on receipt of music.
Best wishes, Jan
LMS@mentha.com
For details of how to purchase copies of the pictures above, see page 21
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